You are on page 1of 20

Dashboard reporting

A guide to improving management


reporting in SMEs
CPA Australia Ltd (CPA Australia) is one of the worlds largest accounting bodies with more than 132,000 members of the financial, accounting and business profession in 111countries.
For information about CPA Australia, visit our website cpaaustralia.com.au
First published
CPA Australia Ltd
ACN 008 392 452
Level 20, 28 Freshwater Place
Southbank Vic 3006
Australia
ISBN 978-1-921742-19-4
Legal notice
Copyright CPA Australia Ltd (ABN 64 008 392 452) (CPA Australia), 2011. All rights reserved.
Save and except for third party content, all content in these materials is owned by or licensed to CPA Australia. All trade marks, service marks and trade names are proprietory to
CPAAustralia. For permission to reproduce any material, a request in writing is to be made to the Legal Business Unit, CPA Australia Ltd, Level 20, 28 Freshwater Place, Southbank,
Victoria 3006.
CPA Australia has used reasonable care and skill in compiling the content of this material. However, CPA Australia and the editors make no warranty as to the accuracy or
completeness of any information in these materials. No part of these materials are intended to be advice, whether legal or professional. Further, as laws change frequently, you are
advised to undertake your own research or to seek professional advice to keep abreast of any reforms and developments in the law.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, CPA Australia, its employees, agents and consultants exclude all liability for any loss or damage claims and expenses including but
not limited to legal costs, indirect special or consequential loss or damage (including but not limited to, negligence) arising out of the information in the materials. Where any law
prohibits the exclusion of such liability, CPA Australia limits its liability to the re-supply of the information.
Contents

Background 2

Introduction 3

Why use dashboard reports? 4

Limitations of dashboard reporting 4

Creating dashboard reports 5

Planning the report 5

What to include in a dashboard report 5

Developing the information 5

Developing key metrics 5

Data collection 8

Format of the dashboard report 8

Frequency 8

Conclusion 14

Appendix A: Dashboard reporting a case study 15

1
Background

This guide is the final in a series of three publications on


improving business performance published by CPA Australia.
Improving business performance involves:
Evaluating business performance to find areas
where business performance could be improved.
See CPA Australias Business evaluation guide at
cpaaustralia.com.au/smallbusiness for
more information.
Implementing actions in areas where the business
determines that its performance should improve.
See CPA Australias Improving business performance
at cpaaustralia.com.au/smallbusiness for
more information.
Monitoring and reporting actions taken to improve
business performance. This guide will help business use
dashboard reporting to better report on key business
drivers, which in turn helps to improve decision making
and implement a continual improvement process.
Reporting the key drivers and risks in dashboard
reports provides decision makers with quick and
easy-to-understand reports that will assist in improving
business decision making.

Author
This guide was prepared by Jan Barned CPA, principal of
Financial Management Trainer, fmtrainer.com.au

Contributors
CPA Australia gratefully acknowledges the input of
Trevor Beckingham FCPA, company secretary of Brisco
Butler Automotive Services and Mike Sewell FCPA,
director of Market Gap Investments.

2
Introduction

Every business owner and manager will benefit from


implementing processes that provide information on business
performance that can be easily evaluated to identify areas for
improvement, risks and trends. One method of providing
such information is dashboard reporting.
Like a car dashboard, the objective of dashboard reporting
is to provide clear and concise information of the key drivers
of business performance. Dashboard reporting should be a
synopsis of business operations and provide information in
a visual format that is easy to read, remembered and
understood by key decision makers in a business. This
should in turn improve decision making.
This guide has been developed to help businesses introduce
dashboard reporting. A case study has been included to
provide a practical example of dashboard reporting.

3
Why use dashboard reports?

For continual improvement of business performance, all It is important to note that dashboard reporting can be
business owners and managers should step back from the applied by any business in any industry as the report
day-to-day activities of their business and review the bigger can and should be tailored for each business. Further,
picture of business operations on a regular basis. To assist dashboard reporting can be prepared for different areas of
with this, business owners and managers should receive a business.
regular management reporting.
The objective of management reporting is to provide useful
information on a regular basis to business owners and
Limitations of dashboard
management that highlights key issues, risks and trends reporting
in the business. Key decision makers should use such
The value of dashboard reporting is its clear and concise
reporting to inform their decision making.
presentation of key business drivers and risks. Such value
Most financial software systems provide myriad reports is lost where it reports in great depth or on a wide variety of
to help meet compliance requirements and monitor the drivers. Details on problems highlighted in a dashboard report
financial results of a business. Smaller businesses in should be provided in separate, more detailed reporting.
particular are unlikely to generate these reports and, if
It is important that business owners, managers and
they do, the business owner or management may not
other users of the dashboard reports understand that the
necessarily fully understand them or use them to inform
information given will only be effective where: the data that
their decision making.
is used to generate the reports is kept up-to-date, the
Generally, this would be due to such reports being difficult reports are reviewed regularly and the information contained
to read and understand and most business owners and in the reports is useful to decision makers (reporting that
managers are time poor. Sifting through numerous and may have been useful three years ago may no longer
detailed management reports to find relevant information be relevant).
and identifying issues from such reports tends to be low
Using spreadsheets to prepare dashboard reports can lead
on the list of priorities for many business owners and
to some risk. Importing data directly from one system to
managers. Dashboard reporting is one method to improve
another carries less risk than re-entering data into a report
management reporting and increase the likelihood of
(data entry errors). However, spreadsheet reports may
such reports being used. It does this by presenting critical
require manipulation of the data to present the information
information on key business drivers and risks in a visual
in a useful format. Regular review of any formulas and other
format and in one or two pages at most, making
formatting within the spreadsheet should be undertaken to
dashboard reporting easy to read and interpret without
ensure the validity of the information.
detailed explanation.
As dashboard reports provide an overview of consolidated
business information, usually in a visual format and focused
on key metrics and risks, users of the reports are more
likely to read them regularly and initiate actions or ask
appropriate questions.
The information in a dashboard report should facilitate
discussion or focus where deviations from benchmarks
are noted and encourage management by exception.
In essence, the report provides triggers for further action
if required.
Business performance is not just about financial
performance. Operational performance is also an important
measure. Dashboard reports should also include operational
measures to improve decision making.

4
Creating dashboard reports

Planning the report The audience can also be external stakeholders to the
business, such as suppliers, lenders, shareholders and
For dashboard reporting to become a tool that drives industry associates.
important business decisions, it is important to understand Step 7 speak with your identified audience and ask them
what key information needs to be included in the report. what their key information needs are.
This requires planning.
Step 8 speak with employees and your external
The planning should outline: accountant to identify the information they believe key
the information needs of the users of the report decision makers should be aware of.

the other key areas that should be monitored Step 9 filter the information from the above steps
to identify the key drivers and risks of the business. In
information that is currently available filtering the information, the business should ask why this
information that will have to start being collected information is important.

It may take more than one person to find out what key
drivers are to be reported on, the design and construction Developing the information
of the dashboard and the collation and the interpretation
of information. It should be noted that information for a Once the business has identified what to include in a
metric on a dashboard may come from different sources dashboard report, the next step is to design how the
and systems. information is to be presented in the report. To assist in
this, the business should consider:
Businesses may like to consider using their external
accountant to assist in the planning and design of a why this information is important
dashboard report.
why the issue included in the dashboard report
is happening
What to include in a the performance measures or key metrics of the business
dashboard report the acceptable levels of variance for the key metrics

Step 1 determine what to include in a dashboard report the impact that each issue reported on will have on
to evaluate business performance and note areas critical to future performance
business performance and underperformance. how often users need information
Step 2 incorporate any key measures implemented to The next step will be to categorise the information. For
improve business performance as a result of the evaluation example, dashboard reports could be presented in groups
into the dashboard report. such as historical information, forecasts and trends,
Step 3 identify the key strategic goals and other key goals operational activity, compliance and strategy. The grouping
of the business from the business plan and sub-plans, such should be developed specifically for whatever works best
as the marketing plan. for the users of the information.

Step 4 incorporate key risks into the report. For example,


reporting on the likelihood of breaches of compliance Developing key metrics
requirements (such as bank covenants or accreditation).
When developing key metrics, businesses may like to set
Step 5 incorporate opportunities into the report such as
critical success factors and then key performance indicators
forecast information and trends.
(KPI) for each of these factors. For example, ongoing
Step 6 consider who will be using the dashboard report. profitability will be a critical success factor for all businesses.
Considering who the audience is will ensure that the KPIs on profitability could include measurements of sales,
reports can be developed to meet their needs. While it may margins and expenses.
be relatively simple to identify the users of the report, a
business evaluation may highlight other potential users of
the report, such as those responsible for problem areas.

5
Metrics should be easy to create, understand and explain. They should be aligned with any assumptions used in the
business, only highlight the most important issues and provide information on trends (positive or negative).
It will be important to set only as many metrics as necessary for the dashboard report. Remember the report is to be used as
a trigger for further analysis, not to include micro-level details of the business.
The dashboard report should also be flexible so that new metrics can be introduced and metrics that are no longer relevant
can be omitted.
When developing the dashboard report, it is important to remember that dashboard reporting is most effective where the
number of metrics reported on is limited to the key drivers and risks of the business.
Table 1 below provides examples of the types of information that should be considered including in dashboard reporting. This
table is not intended to provide a complete list. Those developing the dashboard should keep front of mind that the report will
be most useful where there is a mix-n-match of relevant information. Please remember, a business should concentrate on
preparing metrics for the few key drivers and risks that are most relevant to decision makers.

Table 1: Examples of the types of information that could be included in a dashboard report

Business area Information to include in dashboard report


Sales Sales information can be reported as an individual dashboard report or included in the overall business report.
Examples of information that could be included are:
sales for the period (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually)
comparison of sales for same period previous year
comparison against budgeted sales
cumulative sales for the period
total discounts applied
total discounts as a percentage of sales
number of sales
average value of sales
percentage of sales that are:
cash
credit
sales by employee
sales by item
top selling items
sales growth rate
number of new customers
Work in progress Information that could be included under work in progress includes:
number of orders taken
orders in progress
orders completed, not invoiced
outstanding deliveries
production issues
Gross profit Information that could be included under gross profit includes:
stock purchases for the period
stock on hand
stock ageing
stock on order
gross profit value
gross profit margin
mark-up

6
Business area Information to include in dashboard report
Net profit Information that could be included under net profit includes:
total amount of variable expenses
variable expenses against sales as a percentage
total amount of fixed expenses
fixed expenses against sales as a percentage
monitoring variations to individual expense items from previous periods by setting appropriate trigger points,
such as an increase by 5% or by dollar value
net profit value
net profit margin
breakeven calculation
Business efficiency Information that could be included under business efficiency includes:
debtors days
creditors days
inventory days
work in progress days
stock turnover
stock on hand to total assets
aged debtors report
aged creditors report
Cashflow/liquidity Information that could be included under cashflow/liquidity includes:
cash balances, including investments
financing facilities, including amounts drawn, available term and interest charges
cashflow forecast
working capital available
current ratio
quick ratio
leverage ratio
debt to asset ratio
Balance sheet Information that could be included under balance sheet includes:
total sales to total assets
return on assets
return on investments
Business planning Key metrics developed to monitor business performance against business strategy.
Other key This is dependent on the nature of the business, the goals of the business, business drivers and risks.
performance
indicators

7
Data collection Frequency
Although it is likely that developing the dashboard report will When deciding the frequency of reporting, it is essential
take some time and resources at first, it is important that to assess the resources available to generate and action
once the reports have been designed and implemented, results from the report as well as understanding the needs
they be easy to populate and produce on a regular basis. of the business and who the audience will be.
Ideally, data collection should be relatively automated with
Generally, all businesses should generate monthly reports;
little or no intervention required. Data collection should form
however for some businesses weekly dashboard reporting
part of routine business operations and be aligned with the
may also assist. For example, for a business that has high
existing systems of the business.
weekly sales or where there is a large amount of work
or orders in progress, weekly reporting can provide key
Format of the dashboard report information such as stock balances, staff productivity, sales
information including number of customers, average sales
Once the metrics have been decided and the information value, production outputs and delays in processes.
sourced, then the next step is to format a meaningful
dashboard report that is quick to populate, easy to
understand and captures all the relevant information
for users.
Although formats will vary according to business needs,
typically the key strategic issues will be displayed at the
top of the report with the lower level KPIs displayed below.
Business owners and managers may consider producing a
number of dashboard reports to cover different areas within
the business.
It may also be useful to develop the report into groups
such as historical, current and forecast. The grouping of
information should be based on what works best for
the business.
Finally, the presentation of the information will be critical to
the success of dashboard reporting. Dashboard reporting
should be visual and engaging. Visual presentation can
include charts, colours, symbols (for example, up and
down arrows, traffic lights) and any other method that is
easy to read and understand. The report can also include
numbers; however, these should be kept to a minimum
remembering that the objective of dashboard reports is
to provide an overview of information that triggers further
analysis if required.
If your financial software is unable to give you the visual
presentations you seek, you could export the data to
a spreadsheet, where various charts and tables can
be developed.
Two examples of dashboard reports are provided on the
pages following.

8
Example one: profit / cashflow dashboard

Year to date profit and loss


Year to date profit and loss
Monthly gross trading summary
Monthly gross trading summary
$100,000
$80,000 30%

$80,000 $70,000
25%
$60,000
$60,000 20%
$50,000

$40,000 15%
$40,000
$30,000
10%
$20,000 $20,000
5%
$10,000
$0 0%
$-
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3
($20,000)
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3 Mth 4 Mth 5 Mth 6 Mth 7 Mth 8 Mth 9 Mth 10 Mth 11 Mth 12
Cost of sales Gross profit Gross profit margin

Actual Budget Cumulative actual Cumulative budget

Monthly
Monthly net
net profit
Monthlysales
Monthly sales
$10,000 20%
$100,000
$8,000
$90,000 10%
$80,000 $6,000
$70,000
$4,000 0%
$60,000
$50,000 $2,000
-10%
$40,000 $0
$30,000
$20,000 ($2,000) -20%
$10,000 ($4,000)
$- -30%
($6,000)
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3 Mth 4 Mth 5 Mth 6 Mth 7 Mth 8 Mth 9 Mth 10 Mth 11 Mth 12
($8,000) -40%
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3
Actual Budget
Net profit Net profit margin

Cashflow

Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3 Mth 4 Mth 5 Mth 6 Mth 7 Mth 8 Mth 9 Mth 10 Mth 10 Mth 12
Actual Forecast
Open bank $16,000 $15,225 $37,217 $60,817 $71,134 $69,784 $77,381 $32,698 $31,348 $38,945 $24,262 $22,912
Cashflow in $67,200 $68,400 $73,200 $67,200 $79,600 $73,200 $67,200 $79,600 $73,200 $67,200 $79,600 $73,200
Cashflow out $67,975 $46,408 $49,600 $56,883 $80,950 $65,603 $111,883 $80,950 $65,603 $81,883 $80,950 $65,603

Close bank $15,225 $37,217 $60,817 $71,134 $69,784 $77,381 $32,698 $31,348 $38,945 $24,262 $22,912 $30,509

9
Example two: working capital dashboard

Top
Topten
tencustomers
customers previous
previous1212 months
months
Average
Average debtor
debtor days days

Watts
Pearce 180
Kennedy 150

Number of days
Thomas
Berry 120
King 90
Moore
Marks 60
Jones 30
Smith
0
$ $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Sales value Previous 12 mths

Current toptop
Current tenten
debtors
debtors Monthly stock purchases previous 12 months
Monthy stock purchases previous 12 months
$8,000 $80,000
$70,000
$6,000
$60,000
$4,000 $50,000
$40,000
$2,000 $30,000
$20,000
$
$10,000
Smith

Jones

Marks

King

Berry

Pearce

Watts

Moore

Rosa

Harry

$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Stock
Stock daysby
days byitem
item
Customer over credit limit
Customer over credit limit
Lamps
$8,000 Bunks
$6,000 Tallboy
$4,000 Single bed

$2,000 Queen bed

$- Mirrors
Bedside
Smith

Marks

Watts

Rosa

Harry

Berry

Chairs

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350


Outstanding Credit Limit

Number of days

Current supplier
Current supplierbalance
balance Work
Workin progress
in progess current
current monthmonth
orders orders

Pine, $2,000 $2,500

Belmore, $5,000
$5,000
Taken

Ely, $11,000
Uply, $6,000 Completed
$25,000

Outstanding

$20,000
Sharp, $10,000 Returned

Main, $1,000

South, $2,000

10
Conclusion

The use of dashboard reporting will assist business owners


and managers in improving their decision making process
and hence business performance. When used in conjunction
with business evaluation, the key metrics can be set to
monitor all important business drivers and risks. This should
encourage regular review and action where required.
The dashboard report should align with the business
strategy and be easy to create, understand and explain. The
dashboard report also needs to be flexible to introduce new,
more relevant metrics to support the continual improvement
of the business.
Dashboard reporting should be developed with due
consideration to the needs of users.
Where the business has a number of employees, processes,
various divisions, locations or projects then a dashboard
report for each of those areas may be advantageous.
Significant advantages to the business will be achieved
when the reports are prepared frequently and in a format that
the user can easily read. The use of visual aids is the most
common form of dashboard reporting, as this provides a
quick and concise presentation of key information.
Implementing dashboard reporting into the business will
ensure that the important metrics for business success
are continually monitored and actioned upon.

11
Appendix A: Dashboard reporting
a case study

To assist in developing a dashboard report, the following case study is provided as a guide. This case study should only
be used as reference in developing your own business dashboard report. This case study also includes an example of a
dashboard report

Bundalong retail plant nursery


Bundalong retail plant nursery is situated in a rural town which has a population of approximately 38,000 residents.
The nursery has been operating for 15 years and in the past few years, has been recording operational losses. The business
evaluation was undertaken in July of the current year.
The business evaluation for this case study involved a review of the financial information against the benchmark information
together with a review of documentation provided and physical procedures noted during site visits.

Financial statements
Profit and loss statement for year ended July
Current year ($) Previous year ($)
Sales 438,707.15 345,314.93
Cost of goods sold
Opening stock 119,979.00 71,573.65
Purchases 224,938.00 214,050.11
344,917.00 285,623.76
Closing stock 96,490.49 119,979.00
Total cost of goods sold 248,426.51 56.64% 165,644.76 47.97%
Gross profit 190,280.64 43.36% 179,670.17 52.03%
Operating expenses
Salaries 233,294.80 53.18% 200,236.01 57.99%
Overheads 85,903.42 19.58% 96,691.18 28.00%
Total operating expenses (319,198.22) 72.76% (296,927.19) 85.99%
Net loss 128,917.58 117,257.02

Average stock held for each year $ 108,234.75 $ 95,776.33

12
Breakdown of operating expenses
Current year Previous year
Operating expenses
$ % of expense $ % of expense
Cleaning contract 1,740.00 2.03 1,160.00 1.20
Repairs and maintenance
Buildings 794.26 0.92 656.39 0.68
Equipment 978.22 1.14 859.64 0.89
Furniture and fittings 1,702.80 1.98 1,626.81 1.68
Grounds 4,656.30 5.42 9,646.20 9.98
Electricity 2,821.48 3.28 2,729.10 2.82
Vehicles
Fuel 3,220.07 3.75 2,578.55 2.67
Registration 355.00 0.41 352.20 0.36
Insurance 1,250.00 1.46 1,200.00 1.24
Repairs and maintenance 1,712.51 1.99 1,872.71 1.94
Transport contract 460.04 0.48
Depreciation
Equipment 5,152.84 6.00 5,421.84 5.61
Furniture and fittings 4,324.41 5.03 4,961.39 5.13
Motor vehicles 6,392.29 7.44 6,577.53 6.80
Advertising 14,515.12 16.90 15,954.60 16.50
Uniform costs 277.89 0.32 451.54 0.47
Printing and stationery 1,017.50 1.18 892.62 0.92
Telephone 2,655.50 3.09 2,960.61 3.06
Staff provisions 1,431.55 1.67 1,665.49 1.72
Rent 22,455.00 26.14 19,525.00 20.19
Equipment 620.00 0.72 1,222.22 1.26
Staff training 310.09 0.36 438.18 0.45
Travelling 191.07 0.22 76.63 0.08
Materials and supplies 529.48 0.62 581.65 0.60
Bank charges 3,013.19 3.51 2,809.30 2.91
Memberships and subscriptions 579.32 0.67 520.00 0.54
Health and safety 259.30 0.30 117.79 0.12
Postage 364.70 0.42 369.44 0.38
Computers 4,504.14 4.66
Sundry administration costs 2,583.53 3.01 1,681.39 1.74
Consultancy fees 2,818.18 2.91
Total operating expenses 85,903.42 96,691.18

13
Balance sheet
Current year ($) Prior year ($)
Assets
Current assets
Cash/bank 16,320.00 65,777.82
Debtors 14,280.00 32,000.00
Stock 96,490.00 119,979.00
Other 4,210.00 5,500.00
Total current assets 131,300.00 223,256.82
Non-current assets
Delivery vehicle 75,000.00 75,000.00
Less accumulated depreciation (19,547.35) (12,969.82)
Total 55,452.65 62,030.18
Nursery fit out 115,000.00 115,000.00
Less accumulated depreciation (66,955.45) (61,994.06)
Total 48,044.55 53,005.94
Equipment 50,000.00 50,000.00
Less accumulated depreciation (41,021.20) (35,599.36)
Total 8,978.80 14,400.64
Total non-current assets 112,476.00 129,436.76
Total assets 243,776.00 352,693.52
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Creditors 65,000.00 48,000.00
Credit card 15,000.00 12,000.00
Total current liabilities 80,000.00 60,000.00
Non-current liabilities
Bank loan 20,000.00 20,000.00
Total liabilities 100,000.00 80,000.00
Equity
Shareholders funds (including retained earnings, losses) 272,693.58 389,950.60
Less current year accumulated losses (128,917.58) (117,257.02)
Total net worth 143,776.00 272,693.58

14
Operational activities

Staffing
Full-time equivalent 5.30
Owner/manager 1.30
Apprentice 1.00
Six part-time 3.00
Part-time duties
General sales, orders, quotes 0.80
General sales, admin (0.1) 0.60
General sales, buying 0.60
General sales 0.60
Two staff general sales (2 x0.20) 0.40

Trading hours 59.50 hours per week


8.30 am to 5.00 pm every day except Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and in the morning of Anzac Day.

Documentation reviewed
Mark-up policy: The standard mark-up policy is 110 per cent
Buying policy: No formal buying policy held
Job descriptions: No formal job descriptions held
Discount/VIP policy: The discount policy noted the following:

Total liabilities Total liabilities


2.5% Non-VIP members
VIP members
Schools
10%
Businesses
Garden design customers
15% Landscapers value to $200
Landscapers value $201 to $500
20%
TAFE and other colleges
Landscapers value over $500
25%
Nursery staff

15
Analysis of Bundalong retail nursery financial information comparison of benchmark to current and
previous year
Variance of Variance of Variance of
Industry
Current year current year to current to Previous year previous year
benchmark
benchmark previous year to benchmark
Total income $446,556.00 $438,707.15 ($7,848.85) $93,392.22 $345,314.93 ($101,241.07)
Cost of goods sold 48.99% 56.63% 7.64% 8.66% 47.97% (1.02%)
Gross margin 51.01% 43.37% (7.64%) (8.66%) 52.03% 1.02%
Selected overheads as a percentage of income
Advertising and
2.26% 16.90% 14.64% 0.40% 16.50% 14.00%
promotion
Salaries including staff
13.77% 53.18% 39.41% (4.81%) 57.99% 44.22%
on costs
Vehicle operating costs 3.74% 7.61% 3.87% 1.40% 6.21% 2.47%
Rent 3.32% 26.14% 22.82% 5.95% 20.19% 16.87%
Bank charges 1.53% 3.51% 1.98% 0.60% 2.91% 1.38%
Total overheads 37.25% 72.76% 35.75% (13.23%) 85.99% 48.75%
Net profit margin 13.76% (29.39%) (43.15%) 4.57% (33.96%) (47.72%)
Personnel numbers (FTE)
Working owners 1.52 1.30 (0.22) 0 1.30 (0.22)
Sales staff and
2.36 4.00 1.64 0.50 3.50 1.14
nurserymen
Any other staff 0.49 0 (0.49) 0 0 (0.49)
Total personnel 4.37 5.30 0.93 0.50 4.80 0.43
Other benchmark information
Stock turn rate 3.50 2.30 (1.20) 0.57 1.73 (1.77)
Plants grown in house
as a percentage of total 20.00% 22.00% 2.00% 2.00% 20.00% 0%
sales
Trading hours per week 54.00 59.50 5.50 0 59.50 5.50
Percentage of sales
made to account 25.00% 58.00% 33.00% 3.00% 55.00% 30.00%
customers

For further detailed commentary on the analysis, refer to the CPA Australia publication Evaluating business performance and
Improving business performance at cpaaustralia.com.au/smallbusiness

16
Example of Bundalong retail nursery dashboards

Year-end outstanding debtors


Current year
Current sales
year sales Year-end outstanding debtors

$70,000 < 90
< 90 6%
$60,000
8%
$50,000

$40,000 < 60
18%
$30,000
< 30
$20,000 68%
$10,000

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Cash vs credit sales


Cash vs credit sales Percentage of current year sales
Percentage of current year sales
100%

80%
5 Months
60% Nov Jul
3 Months
29% Ma r Feb
40% Jan Dec
Sep 36%
20% 4 Months Aug
Jun Oct
0% Ma y Apr 35%
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Cash Credit

Monthly sales
Monthly discount
sales discount Top sellers > 10%
Top sellers >10%of
of sales
sales $ $

$8,000 14% 45%


40%
$7,000 12%
35%
$6,000
10%
30%
$5,000
8% 25%
$4,000
6% 20%
$3,000
4% 15%
$2,000
2% 10%
$1,000
5%
$0 0%
0%
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Amount Percentage of Sales Seedlings Fruit Trees Roses Natives Indoor Supplementary stock

Current yearyear
Current total sales/staff
total per
sales/staff per day
day Destroyed stock
Destroyed stock

Staff
$100,000 $6,000
7.0
$90,000
6.0 $5,000
$80,000
$70,000 5.0 $4,000
$60,000
4.0
$50,000 $3,000
$40,000 3.0
$2,000
$30,000 2.0
$20,000 $6,000
1.0
$10,000
11% 12% 13% 14% 14% 18% 18%
$ 0.0 $1,000

% of annual sales Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

17
CPA219077 10/2011

You might also like